Get out and vote
Faithful citizenship is a right and a responsibility

Wisconsin's presidential primary is next Tuesday, Feb. 19. The media is predicting a large turnout. Guess what? It is expected to be as high as 35 percent.

	Editor's View Mary C. Uhler

Wow! That's a high turnout? To me that's disgusting!

Take privilege of voting for granted

I think many Americans take the privilege of voting for granted. We know people who complain about their elected officials, but when it comes time to vote, they stay away from the polls.

Of course, it is sometimes difficult to find a perfect candidate on the ballot. But we still need to vote for someone, even if we exercise our option to write in another candidate (I've done that myself).

Citizens in other countries of the world realize the importance of free elections - because they haven't always had the opportunity to vote as Americans have.

Iraq citizens set example

Remember the elections in Iraq in 2005? In 2005, voters in Iraq who left their homes to vote took their lives into their hands. Insurgents threatened to kill anyone who approached a polling station. The Associate Press reported on January 27, 2005, that insurgents blew up a school slated to serve as a polling center.

But what happened? Did the Iraqi people stay home?

No way. Millions of Iraqis cast their votes on January 30, 2005, in the country's first democratic election in decades. Despite clamped-down security and a daylong ban on most traffic - and despite some 44 deaths from attacks and suicide bombings - people came out to vote in larger than expected numbers.

The people of Iraq still have many problems in their country. But their example of voting in the midst of conflict and violence puts us Americans to shame - and should give us even more reason to vote in 2008.

Exercising faithful citizenship

The United States Catholic bishops have repeatedly encouraged American citizens to exercise faithful citizenship. In November of 2007, the bishops issued a comprehensive statement entitled "Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship: A Call to Political Responsibility from the Catholic Bishops of the United States" (available on the bishops' Web site at www.usccb.org/statements.shtml). During this election year, I suggest voters might read and reflect carefully on this document. It should provide some guidance as we go into the voting booth.

The bishops admit that Catholics often face difficult choices about how to vote. "This is why it is so important to vote according to a well-formed conscience that perceives the proper relationship among moral goods," say the bishops. They add, "A Catholic cannot vote for a candidate who takes a position in favor of an intrinsic evil, such as abortion or racism, if the voter's intent is to support that position."

However, the bishops say that there may be times when a Catholic who rejects a candidate's unacceptable position may decide to vote for that candidate for other morally grave reasons. "Voting in this way would be permissible only for truly grave moral reasons, not to advance narrow interests or partisan preferences or to ignore a fundamental moral evil."

The bishops emphasize that it is essential for Catholics to be guided by a well-formed conscience that "recognizes that all issues do not carry the same moral weight and that the moral obligation to oppose intrinsically evil acts has a special claim on our consciences and our actions. These decisions should take into account a candidate commitments, character, integrity, and ability to influence a given issue. In the end, this is a decision to be made by each Catholic guided by a conscience formed by Catholic moral teaching."

Act according to our Catholic faith

Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver, Colo., gave a recent talk in Phoenix, Ariz., suggesting points for Catholics to keep in mind during this election year. He said that if we choose to call ourselves Catholic, then "that word has consequences for what we believe and how we act."

He said that being a Catholic involves solidarity with other people. "The Catholic faith has social-justice implications - and that means it also has cultural, economic, and political implications. The Catholic faith is never primarily about politics; but Catholic social action - including political action - is a natural byproduct of the Church's moral message," said Archbishop Chaput.

"We can't call ourselves Catholic, and then simply stand by while immigrants get mistreated, or the poor get robbed, or unborn children get killed," he said. "The Catholic faith is always personal, but never private. If our faith is real, then it will bear fruit in our public decisions and behaviors, including our political choices."

Vote in Wisconsin's primary on February 19

As Catholic citizens, we have not only a right but a responsibility to vote - and to vote with a Catholic conscience. I encourage all voters to exercise that right and responsibility by studying the candidates and the issues and voting in Wisconsin's primary on February 19. To find out more about the primary, go to http://elections.state.wi.us/

Mailbag

	Mailbag policy We reserve the right to edit or reject letters. Limit letters to 200 words or less. All letters must be signed. Please include your city or town of residence. Send letters to: Mailbag The Catholic Herald 702 S. High Point Rd. Madison, WI 53719-3522 Fax: 608-821-3071 E-mail: info@madisoncatholicherald.org

Bishops right in opposing 'dangerous legislation'

To the editor:

I would like to express my support for Bishops Jerome Listecki (La Crosse Diocese) and Robert Morlino (Madison Diocese) in their courageous opposition to Wisconsin Assembly Bill 377 (Senate Bill 129) known as "Compassionate Care for Rape Victims."

In January, the La Crosse Diocese published a message on its Web site on behalf of Bishop Listecki describing this bill as a "dangerous piece of legislation" which "would force all hospitals in Wisconsin, including Catholic and other religious hospitals, to treat victims of rape with contraceptives in a manner that could destroy innocent human life in certain circumstances"; and would "constitute a violation of Catholic conscience."

Regarding the contraceptive drug known as Plan B, State Rep. Jeff Wood, a co-sponsor of AB 377, recently wrote a letter to the editor in the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram in which he admitted that "studies have not ruled out" the "possibility" that "Plan B may work to prevent fertilized ova from implanting."

It is because of this "possibility" that Catholic hospitals must be guaranteed the right to operate their hospitals as they see fit. AB 377/SB 129 seems to represent a radical assault on freedom of conscience.

Lou Recine (Secular Franciscan Order), Eau Claire

Takes issue with column

To the editor:

I would like to take issue with Fr. Tad Pacholczyk's judgments in his column "True compassion in midst of tragedy" (Catholic Herald, 01/24/08). The only facts established with certainty are that Dr. Pou stayed and nine patients died. Other staff fled.

The New Orleans grand jury looked at the evidence and did not indict her. Further, the prosecuting attorney general represented a state whose only action for the first 24 hours was to join with FEMA in turning back a fleet of Wal-Mart trucks bringing relief supplies until the president of Wal-Mart called the White House. The people and material necessary to distribute and rescue were deployed in Iraq (with the exception of the Coast Guard). Huge numbers of New Orleans police fled.

In the eyes of others around the world we became a nation of shame for our lack of response. Dr. Pou stayed. Did anyone ask how many lives she saved while she stayed?

Like Father Pacholczyk I am not a physician. If I had been in Dr. Pou's shoes, I fear I would have fled in despair. Most of the others left and escaped seeing their names in print or heard on the radio.

I have the feeling that Dr. Pou has become collateral damage on the way to making a point, valid as that point is, and a pack animal to carry away our collective guilt.

Thomas W. Roberts, Ph.D., Madison